Tourism is a funny thing. Sometimes hot spots are hot, prompting opportunistic developers to build. And sometimes they're not. (The outbreak of a civil war is a great way to shut down a tourist destination.) Photographer Dietmar Eckell has spent the past several years visiting the hotels and resorts that got left… »1/22/15 9:02am 1/22/15 9:02am

Who knew growing rice on a mountain could be so beautiful? The Ailao Mountains in Yunnan, China, have been carved into thousands of gradual steps, each a paddy growing red rice. The rice terraces stretch out over some 400 square miles of mountains and valleys. »12/27/13 3:00pm 12/27/13 3:00pm

Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm on record, bludgeoned the Philippines last week with 235 mph gusting winds and 50 foot tall waves. By current estimates, the storm's fury has impacted 6.9 million people in 41 provinces, taken countless lives, and razed more that 150,000 homes, entire towns simply washed away by… »11/19/13 11:40am 11/19/13 11:40am

This is so sad. Satellite imagery has captured what the Philippines looked like before and after Typhoon Haiyan and it's absolutely tragic. Towns, homes, people's lives have just been completely decimated. There's nothing left. To see the total destruction from above like this is heartbreaking. One day everything is… »11/12/13 10:08pm 11/12/13 10:08pm

This 21-foot, 2,375 pound megacroc destroyed four traps, one water buffalo, and possibly a fisherman before finally being captured in a specially-designed, reinforced, steel-wire trap. Trapped, not killed? And cue Jurassic Park theme music in 3... 2... 1... »9/06/11 10:00am 9/06/11 10:00am

In the US, we hit our copyright infringers with mammoth, disproportionate lawsuits to terrify their peers into going offline. In the Philippines, copyright enforcement requires this guy getting his hands dirty in a humungous pile of pirated media. »7/05/11 10:00pm 7/05/11 10:00pm

In the Philippines, where you can die for singing Frank Sinatra's "My Way" off key, artist Louie Cordero decided to satirize the ongoing violence with an over-the-top installation that shows just how crazy the phenomenon has gotten. It'll make you think twice whenever you find yourself humming the Sinatra songbook. »3/22/11 4:40pm 3/22/11 4:40pm

The man with the .45 handgun is Michael Gonzales. Just a second after this image was captured, he fired various shots against the man holding the camera. He was photographing his wife and daughter just hours before the New Year. »1/04/11 3:00pm 1/04/11 3:00pm

Last weekend, in the Philippines, an actor was mistaken for a masked gunman by a village watchman who jumped onto the actor's moving motorcycle and shot him fatally. Witnesses reportedly thought the killing was part of the movie's action. »11/02/10 3:20pm 11/02/10 3:20pm

Unbreakable Fighting Umbrellas have been around for a little while now, but today we know of one government that actually uses them to protect its president. That government is the Philippines, and the protected president is Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She wouldn't have it any other way. Further testimonials for the $180… »7/13/08 8:00pm 7/13/08 8:00pm